In 1998, Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) loaned her congressional campaign $150,000 at a staggering 18% interest. Napolitano then let the loan linger unpaid for 20 years. In the first decade of the loan, Napolitano bagged $200,000 in interest payments. Then in 2006, Napolitano lowered the interest rate to 10% and kept drawing interest checks. In the 2008 and 2010 elections, the California Democrat pocketed another $94,245 in interest.

Presently, Schweizer, who appeared Monday morning on CBS Early Show, says the self-loan scheme is legal under congressional rules. The only stipulation is that lawmakers must charge a “commercially reasonable” interest rate on the loans they make to their campaigns–a term of art that is undefined and almost never enforced.

“Napolitano is a longtime member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Transportation Committee, which means that donations from industries in those areas were not only donating to her campaign but also putting money in her pocket,” said Schweizer in Extortion.

The publisher of Schweizer’s book, Houghton Mifflin, says the book contains myriad revelations and never-before-published documents on top Democrats, Republicans, President Barack Obama, and Attorney General Eric Holder.